The Wizard offers to take Dorothy back to Kansas in his hot-air balloon, but the balloon accidentally takes off, and Dorothy is left alone and crestfallen. The Wizard, revealed to be a “humbug,” nonetheless grants each traveler’s request, giving the Scarecrow, the Tinman, and the Lion each a token of his newly-acquired ability. The Wizard remains imperious and imposing, but Toto pulls aside a curtain to reveal a meek and ordinary man speaking into a microphone. The four friends, triumphant, take the Witch’s broom back to the Wizard. Dorothy, dousing the flames with a bucket of water, accidentally strikes the Witch, who smolders and melts into nothing (“Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead – Reprise”). The foursome and Toto are reunited, but the Wicked Witch interferes, threatening the Scarecrow with fire. Meanwhile, the Lion, Scarecrow, and Tinman infiltrate the castle disguised as Winkie guards. At the castle, the Witch vows to take Dorothy’s life. The Wicked Witch’s flying monkeys swoop down, capturing Dorothy and Toto. Suddenly, they encounter jitterbugs, who make them dance until they collapse from exhaustion (“Jitterbug”). The four friends travel deep into the haunted forest. As the group awaits its audience with the Wizard, the Lion boasts he is “King Of The Forest.” Finally, they meet the imposing and irritable Wizard, who demands the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West. The travelers, arriving at the Emerald City, are delayed by a stubborn Gatekeeper, but Dorothy’s tears convince him to relent and let them in (“Merry Old Land Of Oz”). The Witch attempts to sedate the travelers with a poisonous field of poppies, but Glinda reverses the spell with healing snowflakes (“Poppies/Optimistic Voices”). Together, the four new companions make their way towards Oz (“We’re Off To See The Wizard”). Dorothy, seeking a way back home to Kansas, sets off to see the Wizard of Oz (“Follow the Yellow Brick Road”).Īlong the way, Dorothy meets three new friends, each of whom lacks a crucial characteristic: The Scarecrow (“If I Only Had A Brain”) The Tinman (“If I Only Had A Heart”) and the Lion (“If I Only Had The Nerve”). Unable to reclaim her sister’s shoes, which are now on Dorothy’s feet, the Witch vows to return and quickly vanishes. The celebration is interrupted as the Wicked Witch of the West suddenly appears, seeking vengeance. The Munchkins, now freed from the Wicked Witch of the East, celebrate and hail Dorothy as their new heroine (“Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead/Munchkin Musical Sequence”). Apparently, Dorothy’s house has landed upon – and fatally stricken – the Wicked Witch of the East. In Oz, Dorothy meets Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. Suddenly a cyclone hits, and Dorothy and Toto, seeking shelter in the house, are transported to the Land of Oz. They meet up with kindly Professor Marvel, who subtly convinces Dorothy to return home. The family’s mean neighbor, Miss Gulch, threatens to impound Dorothy’s cherished dog, Toto, so Dorothy and Toto run away. Something, we're meant to key into, is up.Dorothy Gale, a young girl living on a Kansas farm with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, dreams of escaping her mundane life (“Over The Rainbow “). The multiple roles was all meant, then, to serve as a clue as to the falseness of the Wizard himself. Or perhaps he was carefully trying to manipulate the heroes trickery is, after all, the Wizard's stock in trade, and it was important to him that the Emerald City appear a very specific way. It's been argued that Frank Morgan was, in fact, playing the same character all throughout Oz, changing his appearance to inflate the local population in front of tourists. Draw your modern political parallels now. The entire Emerald City was a act of subterfuge, faking the majesty of the government. It would later be revealed that the Emerald City itself was, in fact, an elaborate façade, and there were no actual emeralds it was the glasses actually providing the emerald brilliance. A conceit from the book that was dropped for the film was that the citizens of the Emerald City all needed to wear green-tinted glasses as to protect their eyes from the emerald brilliance of the city. And while that would be reason enough to have an actor in several roles, the inclusion of multiple Morgans may be an homage to L.
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